ETK-1 Cells

Name: CLS Cell Lines Service GmbH
Address: Dr.-Eckener-Straße 8, Eppelheim, 69214, DE
Telephone: +496221405780
Price range: €€€

USD$550.00*

Products are shipped frozen on dry ice in cryotubes. Each cryotube typically contains 3 × 10⁶ cells for adherent lines or 5 × 10⁶ cells for suspension lines (refer to the batch CoA for details).

Prices excl. taxes plus shipping costs

cryovial

Product number: 305529

Safety data sheet

Product sheet

Certificate of Analysis (CoA)

Description	ETK-1 is a human intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (IHCCA) cell line originally established from the ascitic fluid of an adult patient with sarcomatoid cholangiocarcinoma. The tumor from which ETK-1 was derived exhibited both tubular adenocarcinoma and sarcomatoid components, and the cell line reflects the sarcomatoid phenotype. ETK-1 cells grow adherently as a uniform epithelial monolayer with a cobblestone appearance, composed mainly of small polygonal cells with round to oval nuclei and prominent nucleoli. Early passage cells demonstrated a population doubling time of approximately 70 hours and a hyperdiploid karyotype with a modal chromosome number in the mid-70s, consistent with chromosomal instability typical of aggressive biliary tract malignancies. Immunophenotypically, ETK-1 cells express biliary epithelial markers including γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), cytokeratin 18 (CK18), and cytokeratin 19 (CK19), confirming their cholangiocytic origin. They are negative for hepatocyte-associated markers such as alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and albumin under basal conditions. ETK-1 cells express vimentin, reflecting their sarcomatoid characteristics and partial mesenchymal phenotype, while lacking expression of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9). This marker profile corresponds to the sarcomatoid component observed in the primary tumor and highlights features consistent with epithelial-mesenchymal transition-like properties. ETK-1 has also been used as a model to study cellular plasticity and lineage differentiation in cholangiocarcinoma. Treatment with the DNA methyltransferase inhibitor 5-azacytidine induced morphological and phenotypic changes, resulting in a derivative cell line with hepatocyte-like features, including expression of AFP, albumin, integrin α1, and thrombopoietin, along with loss of certain biliary markers. In xenograft models, untreated ETK-1 cells form tumors consistent with tubular adenocarcinoma displaying a ductal phenotype. These findings demonstrate that ETK-1 retains differentiation plasticity and serves as a valuable in vitro system for investigating biliary epithelial-to-hepatocytic transdifferentiation, epigenetic regulation, and tumor heterogeneity in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.
Organism	Human
Tissue	Metastatic
Disease	Cholangiocarcinoma
Metastatic site	Ascites
Synonyms	ETK1

Age	61 years
Gender	Female
Ethnicity	Japanese
Growth properties	Adherent

Citation	ETK-1 (Cytion catalog number 305529)
Biosafety level	1
NCBI_TaxID	9606
CellosaurusAccession	CVCL_1206

Mutational profile	Mutation: p.Arg175His, Homozygous

Culture Medium	RPMI 1640, w: 2.0 mM stable Glutamine, w: 2.0 g/L NaHCO3 (Cytion article number 820700a)
Supplements	Supplement the medium with 10% FBS
Dissociation Reagent	Accutase, 5 min., 37°C
Subculturing	Remove the old medium from the adherent cells and wash them with PBS that lacks calcium and magnesium. For T25 flasks, use 3-5 ml of PBS, and for T75 flasks, use 5-10 ml. Then, cover the cells completely with Accutase, using 1-2 ml for T25 flasks and 2.5 ml for T75 flasks. Let the cells incubate at room temperature for 8-10 minutes to detach them. After incubation, gently mix the cells with 10 ml of medium to resuspend them, then centrifuge at 300xg for 3 minutes. Discard the supernatant, resuspend the cells in fresh medium, and transfer them into new flasks that already contain fresh medium.
Seeding density	1 to 3 x 10⁴ cells/cm2
Fluid renewal	2 to 3 times per week
Post-Thaw Recovery	After thawing, plate the cells at 5 x 10⁴ cells/cm² and allow the cells to recover from the freezing process and to adhere for at least 24 hours.
Freeze medium	As a cryopreservation medium, we use complete growth medium + 10% DMSO for adequate post-thaw viability.
Thawing and Culturing Cells	Confirm that the vial remains deeply frozen upon delivery, as cells are shipped on dry ice to maintain optimal temperatures during transit. Upon receipt, either store the cryovial immediately at temperatures below -150°C to ensure the preservation of cellular integrity, or proceed to step 3 if immediate culturing is required. For immediate culturing, swiftly thaw the vial by immersing it in a 37°C water bath with clean water and an antimicrobial agent, agitating gently for 40-60 seconds until a small ice clump remains. Perform all subsequent steps under sterile conditions in a flow hood, disinfecting the cryovial with 70% ethanol before opening. Carefully open the disinfected vial and transfer the cell suspension into a 15 ml centrifuge tube containing 8 ml of room-temperature culture medium, mixing gently. Centrifuge the mixture at 200 x g for 5 minutes, carefully discard the supernatant containing freezing medium. Follow the procedure described under Post-Thaw Recovery
Incubation Atmosphere	37°C, 5% CO₂, humidified atmosphere.
Shipping Conditions	Cryopreserved cell lines are shipped on dry ice in validated, insulated packaging with sufficient refrigerant to maintain approximately −78 °C throughout transit. On receipt, inspect the container immediately and transfer vials without delay to appropriate storage.
Storage Conditions	For long-term preservation, place vials in vapor-phase liquid nitrogen at about −150 to −196 °C. Storage at −80 °C is acceptable only as a short interim step before transfer to liquid nitrogen.

Properties "ETK-1 Cells"

Metastatic site:	Ascites

Lot Number	Certificate Type	Date	Catalog Number
305529-260526	Certificate of Analysis	13. Jul. 2026	305529

ETK-1 Cells

General information

Characteristics

Regulatory Data

Biomolecular Data

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Quality Control & Molecular Analysis

Certificate of Analysis (CoA)